Board Game Apparatus with Variable Game Surface and Method of Play

ABSTRACT

An apparatus and method for playing a board game which includes at least two distinguishable sets of playing pieces, each set being assigned to one player of the game, a game surface set by the players from assigned surface tiles, and dice, a pair being assigned to each player of the game. Players set up the game surface, and thereafter playing pieces, in an order determined by each player rolling a pair of dice. Setup is thereby varied each game to provide a new challenge. Players, in order, act by moving playing pieces, jumping over opposing playing pieces and removing them, and attacking opposing playing pieces. Winning an attack involves having the highest score on a roll of the dice and the winner&#39;s piece remains on the game surface. A player wins if they are the only one with pieces remaining on the game surface.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for playing a boardgame in which competing players, by means of skill and chance, move aplurality of playing pieces according to pre-set rules to removeopposing players' playing pieces from a game surface created by bothplayers from strategically placed tiles.

Board games involving chance or strategy have long been popular amongplayers of all ages. The excitement, challenge, and social interactioninvolved in playing and winning such games are a continual attraction,drawing family and friends together. Such board games often involvemultiple players moving their respective pieces in various prescribedways on a fixed game surface to achieve an ultimate goal, such asrelocation of all of one's pieces to a remote part of the board. It isalso common for such games to involve confrontations in which one playercan move their pieces in such a way as to temporarily or permanentlyblock or remove one or more of his opponent's pieces from the game. Suchconfrontations provide a competitive factor to such board games andenhancing social interaction between the players. Examples of such gamesinclude checkers, chess, and backgammon.

However, few of these board games utilize both skill and chance, allowfor confrontations involving playing pieces, and have elements that makea particular game not only easy to learn but also continuallyentertaining and challenging after many hours of play. For example, ingames like backgammon, while the game pieces can be involved inconfrontations, the outcome is mostly determined by chance. As such,some experienced players can find such games become routine anduninteresting. Additionally, in games like chess, while the game piecesalso can be involved in confrontations, the outcome is determinedentirely by skill. Accordingly, the complex strategies necessary tosucceed can frustrate and discourage inexperienced players. Furthermore,most of these games lack any substantially variable elements to keepplayers challenged and entertained. Therefore, many board gamesinvolving confrontations are difficult for people of various ages andexperience levels to play together while remaining continuallyentertained and challenged.

Various attempts to provide variety for board games have been made toenhance the entertainment and challenge for players thereof. Forexample, U.S. Pat. No. 3,989,253 discloses a game board apparatus forplaying a variant of the game of checkers. The game board is similar toa checkerboard, having alternating light and dark colored squares oralternatively, plain and textured squares. Unlike checkers, however, thetwo center rows of the game board are replaced by a channel adapted toreceive two rows of vector tiles therein. The vector tiles alter thenormal movement of playing pieces thereon. A piece landing on a vectortile is constrained to move only in the directions indicated by theparticular directional indicia on the tile. At the start of each game,the vector tiles are removed from the channel and replaced in adifferent order thereby to vary the movement constraints for the nextgame.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,983,937 discloses a dynamic non-static game board whichis formed at the beginning of each game by the players each placingtiles having playing spaces which may have side walls. The walls createa maze configuration through which pieces move. To win, one must moveall of one's pieces, 1-5 depending on difficulty level, from one side ofthe board and off the opposite side. A random number selection meanssuch as dice indicates the number of spaces to be moved. On some turnsat least one visual indicator for a “stack” move and another for a“slide” move appear simultaneously with a number. A stack allows aplayer to stack a tile on top of an existing tile to alter theconfiguration of the maze. A slide allows a player to slide another tileinto one end of one row, thus pushing an existing tile off the other endof the row and possibly altering the maze configuration. The strategygame may be programmed and displayed on a visual media such as a videogame or on the World Wide Web. Each of the prior references mentionedabove are hereby incorporated herein, in their entirety, by reference.

However, these earlier efforts suffer from one or more of the followingdisadvantages: they do not involve confrontation to enhance competitionand social interaction, do not combine skill and chance in exactproportions necessary to appeal to a broad range of players, and do notinclude additional elements which provide variety keeping the gamecontinually entertaining and challenging.

For these reasons, a need exists for a board game which involves skilland chance in proportions to provide appeal to a broad range of players,involves game piece confrontations to enhance competition and socialinteraction, and includes elements which are variable each game toprovide continuous entertainment and challenge.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a board game that, in one or moreaspects, involves skill and chance in proportions to provide appeal to abroad range of players, involves game piece confrontations to enhancecompetition and social interaction, and includes elements which arevariable each game to provide continuous entertainment and challenge.Other advantages of one or more aspects will be apparent from thedrawings and ensuing description.

In accordance with a first embodiment, a game apparatus is composed oftwo pairs of dice, two differently colored sets of playing pieces, andsixteen surface tiles. Each set of the playing pieces, in the firstembodiment, includes six higher rank pieces (“gates”) and sixteen lowerrank pieces (“stones”). Also, the surface tiles of the first embodimentinclude two types with a square matrix on each, a first set with eighttiles having four identical dots and a second set with eight tileshaving three dots—two dots identical to those of the first set, adifferent color dot, and a blank space where a dot should be in thematrix.

Further, in accordance with a first method of playing the game, twoplayers are each assigned a pair of dice, a set of the playing pieces(six gates and sixteen stones), four tiles from the first set, and fourtiles from the second set. Both players, in accordance with the firstmethod, roll their dice and determine a playing order where the higherscore goes first. After rolling, each player then—in rotation based onthe order—places a single tile on a flat surface, like a table, to makeup the game surface.

However, in accordance with the first method, after the first tile isplaced, each additional tile must be placed so that it shares an edgewith another already placed tile and so that at least one of the dots onthe additional tile is non-diagonally adjacent to a dot on an alreadyplaced tile. Also in accordance with the first method of play, a playerplacing a tile from the second set must also place one of their gates onthe different color dot thereof. Placement of tiles and gates continuesaccording to the repeating order until all assigned tiles areaccordingly placed. Thereby, the pattern of any single game surface maybe one of a plethora and each may provide a new and entertainingchallenge each game.

In further accordance with the first method, after the game surface ismade, each player—in rotation based on the order—places one of theirassigned pieces on any empty dot until all assigned pieces are placed.Thereby, the playing piece setup, like the game surface, can be variedby the players to provide a new and entertaining challenge each game.

Also in accordance with the first method, after setup of the gamesurface and playing pieces is completed, each player—in rotation basedon the order—may perform one of the following acts with one of theirassigned pieces during their turn: moving, attacking, or jumping. Aplayer may move a playing piece from a first dot to an adjacent emptynon-diagonal second dot, when available during a turn. However, if anempty second dot is not adjacent, like when a blank space is between thedots, or is diagonal relative to the first dot, a player may not movetheir piece there. A player is also limited when moving the same piecebetween the same two dots to three of that particular player'sconsecutive turns. After three consecutive turns of the particularplayer, that particular player must perform a different act with anypiece, move a different piece, or move the same piece to a differentdot. Thereby, players are urged into confrontation and a perpetualstalemate may be avoided.

Further, a player—with one of their assigned pieces—may attack anopponent's playing piece on an adjacent non-diagonal dot during a turn.To attack, a player announces their intent to attack and identifies theattacking playing piece and the opponent's playing piece being attacked.The player and opponent then roll one or more of their dice to determinewhich playing piece “wins” the attack and gets to remain on the gamesurface. The number of dice rolled by each player is based on the rankof each playing piece assigned to each player. For example, aplayer—attacker or opponent—only rolls a single die if their assignedpiece is a stone. However, a player—attacker or opponent—rolls a pair ofdice if their assigned piece is a gate.

A player wins and their piece remains on the game surface if they have ahigher total score on a roll of their dice. When both pieces are thesame rank, any tie is resolved by re-rolling the dice until one playerhas a higher score. However, when both pieces are different ranks, i.e.stone and gate, the stone always wins a tie. While the piece that winsremains on the game surface, the other piece loses and is removed fromthe game surface. A player with a winning piece also has the option ofleaving the winning piece in its original location or moving it to theadjacent dot previously occupied by the losing piece. Also, when thewinning piece is a stone and the losing piece is a gate, the stone ispromoted and replaced with a gate of the winning player if such a gatehas been earlier removed from the game surface. If a gate assigned to awinning player has not been removed yet, then the stone cannot bepromoted, even if it is the winning piece and the losing piece is agate.

Additionally, a player may jump an assigned piece over one or moreopponent's stones during a turn. To jump, a player moves their piecefrom a first dot to a second dot on the opposite side of an adjacentopponent's stone. The second dot must be adjacent to the opponent'sstone and cannot be a blank space or be separated from the opponent'sstone by a blank space or another piece. A player may also makeadditional successive jumps over additional stones of an opponent toadditional empty dots opposite and adjacent the opponent's stone beingjumped, during a single turn. Such successive jumps do not have to be inthe same direction as any preceding jump during the turn. Any opponent'sstones jumped over during a turn are removed from the game surface.Also, only stones—not gates—are allowed to be jumped over.

Lastly, in accordance with the first method, players perform the aboveacts in rotation based on the order until the game ends. The game endswhen players are able to continually escape from each other or only thepieces of a single player remain on the game surface. If players areable to continually escape from each other, the game is a draw. However,if only the pieces of a single player remain on the game surface, thatplayer is the winner.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the presentinvention will become better understood with regard to the followingdescription, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a board game apparatusincluding two sets of playing pieces of different colors disposed upon agame surface composed of tiles and two pair of dice;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of two sets of playing pieces of oneembodiment of a board game apparatus, where each set is distinguishableby color and includes gates and stones;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of two tiles, each from a separate set oftiles of one embodiment of a board game apparatus where the tile from afirst set has four dots and the tile from a second set has three,including a different color dot;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a game surface of one embodiment of aboard game apparatus composed by placement of tiles from a first set andsecond set with gates placed on the different color dots of second settiles;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the game surface of FIG. 4 with theremaining playing pieces of two players placed onto dots of the gamesurface;

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of two select surface tiles from a gamesurface of an embodiment of a board game apparatus with an arrowdemonstrating how a playing piece may move;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of two select surface tiles from a gamesurface of an embodiment of a board game apparatus with an arrowdemonstrating how a playing piece may jump a playing piece of adifferent set;

FIG. 8 is a top plan view of four select surface tiles from a gamesurface of an embodiment of a board game apparatus with arrowsdemonstrating how a playing piece may make multiple successive jumpsover playing pieces of different sets during a single turn;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a single tile from one embodiment of agame apparatus where a stone of one set is attacking a gate of anotherset and the dice associated with each set have been rolled and show atie;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the single tile of FIG. 9 where thelosing gate has been removed and the remaining stone has been promotedby replacement with a gate of the same set:

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the single tile of FIG. 9 where thelosing stone has been removed and the remaining stone has been promotedby combining the stone with an additional stone of the same set throughstacking;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a single tile from an embodiment of thegame apparatus where two stones of the same set are located on adjacentnon-diagonal dots;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the single tile of FIG. 12 where thestones of the same set have been combined through stacking to form abuilt piece; and

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the single tile of FIG. 13 where thebuilt piece has been broken apart into two stones of the same set withone remaining on the dot occupied by the previous built piece andanother stone being located on an adjacent non-diagonal empty dot.

REFERENCE NUMERALS 10 Game Apparatus 12 Playing Pieces 14 Set of PlayingPieces 16 Gates 18 Stones 20 Game Surface 22 Surface Tiles 24 First Set26 First Mark 28 Second Set 30 Second Mark 32 Blank Space 40 Dice 42Dice Pair 50 Move Arrow 52 Jump Arrow 60 Attacking Piece 62 OpposingPiece 68 Promoted Piece 70 Built Piece

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference now to the drawings, a new board game utilizing a gameapparatus 10 and method of play embodying confrontation, variety, skill,and luck providing entertainment, challenge, and social interactionamongst many players, regardless of their experience level are hereindescribed.

First Embodiment of the Game Apparatus

A first embodiment of the game apparatus 10, as illustrated in FIG. 1,has two differently colored sets 14 of playing pieces 12, sixteen totalsurface tiles 22 used to form a game surface 20 upon which the playingpieces 12 are arranged, and two pairs 42 of standard dice 40. Inaccordance with the first embodiment, each of the two playing piece sets14 has six higher rank pieces, called gates 16, and sixteen lower rankpieces, called stones 18. As shown in FIG. 2, while the playing pieces12 are all cylindrical shaped, the sets 14 are distinguished by colorand the rank distinguished by size. In particular, as shown in FIG. 2,stones 18 are generally half the length of gates 16 in the firstembodiment.

Also, in accord with the first embodiment, the sixteen surface tiles 22include eight of a first set 24 having four marks and eight of a secondset 28 having three marks. As shown in FIG. 3, tiles 22 of the first set24 have four identical first marks 26 (specifically dots) in a squarematrix arrangement. As also shown in FIG. 3, tiles 22 of the second set28 have two first marks 26, a different color second mark 30 (also adot), and a blank space 32 in a square matrix arrangement.

First Embodiment of the Game Method

In a first embodiment, a method of playing the present board gameincludes assigning each of two players half the elements of the firstembodiment of the apparatus 10, described above, including a pair 42 ofdice 40, a set of playing pieces 12 including six gates 16 and sixteenstones 18, four tiles 22 from the first set 24, and four tiles 22 fromthe second set 28, as shown in FIG. 1. Once the elements of theapparatus 10 have been assigned, both players roll their pair 42 of dice40 and determine a playing order where the higher total score goesfirst. In the event of a tie, both players re-roll their dice 40 untilone player has a higher score.

Game Surface and Playing Piece Setup

Upon establishing a playing order, the first player thereof places asingle tile 22—either of the first set 24 or second set 28—on a flatplane, e.g. a table, floor, or the like, with the marks on the tile 22showing. If the first tile 22 placed is of the second set 28, the firstplayer then also places a gate 16 upon the second mark 30 of the tile22. After the first tile is placed, the second player, and each playeralternating thereafter, places an additional tile 22 on the plane tocreate the game surface 20. However, after the first tile is placed,each additional tile 22 must be placed so that it shares an edge withanother already placed tile 22 and so that at least one of themarks—first mark 26 or second mark 30—on the additional tile 22 isnon-diagonally adjacent at least one of the marks on an already placedtile 22. Additionally, if the additional tile 22 placed is of the secondset 28, the player placing the tile then also places a gate 16 upon thesecond mark 30 thereof. Placement of tiles 22 and gates 16 byalternating players continues until all assigned tiles 22 areaccordingly placed and the game surface 20 is created, as shown in FIG.4. Upon creation of the game surface 20, each player, in rotation basedthe order, places one of their remaining assigned playing pieces 12 uponany empty mark—first mark 26 or second mark 30—until all assigned pieces12 are placed, as shown in FIG. 5. Thereby, the playing piece 12 andgame surface 20 setup can be varied and decided by the players toprovide a new level of strategy and a new entertaining challenge eachgame.

Gameplay Acts

After setup of the game surface 20 and the playing pieces 12, eachplayer—taking turns based on the order—may perform one of the followingacts with one of their assigned pieces 12 during their turn: moving,attacking, or jumping.

Moving

As shown in FIG. 6, to move a player physically moves a playing piece 12from a starting mark to a finishing mark that is adjacent, empty andnon-diagonal, such as along the path of arrow 50. However, if thefinishing mark is not adjacent—like when a blank space 32 is disposedbetween the starting and finishing mark—or is diagonal relative to thestarting mark, a player cannot move their piece 12 to the finishingmark. A player is also limited when moving the same piece 12 between thesame two marks to three of that particular player's consecutive turns.After three, that particular player must perform a different act withany piece 12, move a different piece 12, or move the same piece 12 to adifferent mark. Thereby, players can avoid a perpetual stalemate.

Attacking

In addition, to attack, the player—upon announcement of their intent toattack—must identify their attacking piece 60 and the adjacentnon-diagonal opposing piece 62. After identification, the player andopponent then roll one or more of their dice 40 to determine whichplayer “wins” and “loses” and whether the attacking piece 60 or opposingpiece 62 remains on the game surface 20 while the other is removed (alsocalled being “lost”), as in FIG. 9.

The number of dice 40 rolled by each player is based on the rank of eachplaying piece 12 assigned each player. Thereby, a player—attacker oropponent—only rolls a single die 40 if their assigned piece 12 is astone 18. However, a player—attacker or opponent—rolls a pair 42 of dice40 if their assigned piece 12 is a gate 16. A player wins and theirpiece 12 remains on the game surface 20 if they have a higher totalscore on a roll of their one or more die 40. When both pieces 60, 62 arethe same rank, any tie is resolved by re-rolling the die 40 until oneplayer has a higher score. However, when both pieces 60, 62 aredifferent ranks, i.e. stone 18 and gate 16, the stone 18 wins a tie.

A player with a winning piece 12 has the option of leaving the winningpiece 12 in its original location or moving it to the adjacent markpreviously occupied by the lost piece 12. Further, when the winningpiece 12 is a stone 18 and the losing piece 12 is a gate 16, the stone18 is promoted and replaced with a previously lost gate 16 of thewinning player, as in FIG. 10. Should the winning player have nopreviously lost gate 16, then the stone 18 cannot be promoted, even ifit is the winning piece 12 and the losing piece 12 is a gate 16. Also, apromoted piece 68 is considered equivalent to a gate 16.

Jumping

As shown in FIG. 7, to jump a player moves an assigned piece 12 from astarting mark over an adjacent opponent's stone 18 to an empty landingmark on the opposite side of the opponent's stone 18 from the startingmark, such as along the path of arrow 52. The landing mark must not onlybe adjacent to the opponent's stone 18 but must also not be a blankspace 32 or be separated from the opponent's stone 18 by a blank space32 or another piece 12. During a single turn, a player may also makeadditional successive jumps over additional stones 18 of an opponent toadditional empty marks opposite and adjacent each opponent's stone 18being jumped, as by the path of arrows 52 in FIG. 8. As also seen inFIG. 8 and in the path of arrows 52, such successive jumps do not haveto be in the same direction as any preceding jump during the turn. Anyopponent's stones 18 jumped over during a turn are lost, i.e. removedfrom the game surface 20. Further, only stones 18, not gates 16, areallowed to be jumped over.

Game End

In accordance with the first method, players continue to perform theacts—moving, attacking, and jumping—in rotation based the order untilthe game ends. The game ends when players' pieces 12 are able tocontinually escape from each other or only the pieces 12 of a singleplayer remain on the game surface 20. If the players' pieces 12 are ableto continually escape from each other, the game is a draw. However, ifonly the pieces 12 of a single player remain on the game surface 20,that player is the winner.

Variations—Game Apparatus Playing Pieces

In an alternative embodiment, a game apparatus 10 includes more playingpiece sets 14 than two, to accommodate additional players. Additionally,while color is used to distinguish the two sets 14 of playing pieces 12in the first embodiment, it is foreseen that each set 14 of playingpieces 12 can be distinguishable in alternative ways, such as by shape,size, or identifiable markings. Similarly, while size, particularly thelength of the cylinders, is used to distinguish between ranks of playingpieces 12, i.e. gates 16 and stones 18, in the first embodiment, it isforeseen that the rank of playing pieces 12 can be distinguishable inalternative ways, such as by being different shapes or sizes, or havingdifferent identifiable markings. In an additional embodiment, it is alsoforeseen that the playing pieces 12 can be any shape and size beyond thecylinders of the first embodiment. For example, in one embodiment,playing pieces 12 are cubed and have marking upon their surfacesidentifying their rank, instead of or in addition to differing sizes.

In an additional embodiment, instead of each separate piece 12 having asingle rank, like a gate 16 or stone 18 in the first embodiment, one ormore of the playing pieces 12 in each set 14 can have characteristicsidentifying it as a piece of both higher and lower rank. For example, adisc shaped playing piece 12 can have both a marking identifying ithigher rank piece on one side and a marking identifying a lower rankpiece on another side, so the disc could be utilized as either a higheror lower rank piece depending on which side is showing.

Furthermore, playing pieces 12 can be made from one or more materials,including but not limited to, wood, plastic, metal, and glass. Thematerial from which each playing piece 12 is made can also identify itsset or rank, instead of or in addition to shapes, sizes, and markings.For example, a gate 16 can be made from metal while a stone 18 can bemade from plastic or one set 14 of playing pieces 12 can be made ofmetal while another made of glass.

Surface Tiles

While the surface tiles 22 include a first set 24 with four identicalfirst marks 26 in the first embodiment, in alternative embodiments, itis foreseen that tiles 22 of the first set 24 can include more than fourfirst marks 26 or additional marks different than first marks 26.Likewise, in alternative embodiments, it is foreseen that tiles of thesecond set 28 can include more than three marks and can include morefirst marks 26, more second marks 30, and more blank spaces 32. In anadditional embodiment, tiles of the second set 28 may include no secondmarks 30 at all. In a further additional embodiment, the game apparatus10 can include additional sets of tiles 22—beyond the first set 24 andsecond set 28 of the first embodiment—with different numbers of marksand different patterns thereupon or no marks at all. Thereby, players ofgames involving additional tiles 22 or alternative tiles 22 would havefurther variety of possible game surfaces 20, providing new andentertaining challenges for players in each game.

In the first embodiment, the first marks 26 are dots and the secondmarks 30 are different color dots, as in FIG. 3. However, it is foreseenthat marks on the tiles 22—including the first marks 26 and second marks30—can be any shape including but not limited to a circle, square, orstar, in alternative embodiments. In further embodiments, the marks onthe tiles 22 can also include any color, pattern, or combinationthereof, and can even be sized and shaped to match a surface of one ormore playing pieces 12, as in FIGS. 1 and 4-5. Furthermore, marks can bedisposed on tiles 22 by any suitable means, including—but not limitedto—stickers, paint, inlays, or branding in several embodiments.

In an additional embodiment, tiles 22 can also include furthercharacteristics to increase their utility. For example, tiles 22 caninclude additional markings relevant to other games, such as chess andcheckers squares, on a side opposite the side with marks relevant to theinstant board game. In further embodiments, tiles 22 can be made fromone or more materials, including but not limited to, wood, plastic,metal, and glass. Further, tiles 22 can also, in several embodiments,include additional characteristics or elements which assist players inconstructing the game surface 20, such as an attachment means forsecuring surface tiles 22 together. For example, one or more surfacetiles 22 can have magnetic edges which attract and affix to edges ofother surface tiles 22.

Dice

In an alternative embodiment, other, non-standard, dice 40 can beutilized, instead of the standard dice 40 of the first embodiment. Forexample, one or more of the dice 40 in a pair 42 utilized in the gameapparatus 10 can be shaped or numbered in a non-standard way. In anadditional embodiment, it is foreseen that the dice 40 may be replacedby other means for generating a random score or ranking to determine aplaying order or who wins during an attack.

Variations—Method of Play Assignment of Elements of Game Apparatus

In an alternative embodiment, each player can be assigned differentnumbers of each set of surface tiles 22 than those specified in thefirst embodiment. For example, each player can be assigned four firstset tiles 24 and three second set tiles 28 for a shorter game. Also,each player can be assigned different numbers of each rank of playingpieces 12 than those specified in the first embodiment. For example,each player can be assigned five gates 16 and eleven stones 18 for ashorter game.

It should be understood that the present game may be played digitally,for instance using software and a computer, phone, tablet, or any otherdigital device, and may be played by multiple people on a single device,multiple devices, or online. The software or digital version of the gamemay be played in the same way as the physical game described hereinwithout departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention.

Setup

In an alternative embodiment, it is foreseen that players, when placinga tile of the second set 28, may not be required to automatically placea gate 16 thereupon. In such an embodiment, a player may be able toplace a gate 16 upon any mark, either at the time of placing a tile ofthe second set 28 or once the game surface 20 has been established.

Moving

In the first embodiment, any playing piece 12 can be moved, whether itbe a gate 16 or stone 18, as long as the finishing mark the piece 12 isbeing moved to is empty, non-diagonal, and adjacent the starting mark.However, in an alternative embodiment, gates 16 can be required toremain stationary after being placed on a game surface 20, so onlystones 18 can be moved.

Jumping

Similarly, in the first embodiment, only stones 18 can be jumped overand removed, while gates 16 cannot be jumped over and removed. However,in an alternative embodiment, any playing piece 12 of an opponent,including gates 16, can be jumped over and removed. Thereby, a gate 16of an opponent can be jumped, as long as an empty landing mark isavailable adjacent the opponent's gate 16 and opposite the startingmark. In an additional embodiment, it is also foreseen that gate 16 canbe proscribed from jumping over an opponent's piece 12. In a furtherembodiment, it is foreseen that all playing pieces 12, or those of asingle set 14, may be temporarily or permanently proscribed from jumpingduring game play, thereby limiting the acts a player may perform duringa game.

Attacking

In the first embodiment, a stone 18 winning an attack against a gate 16is promoted by replacement of the stone 18 with a gate 16 of the sameset 14—if such a gate 16 was removed from the game surface 20 earlier.However, in an additional embodiment, a stone 18 can also be promoted bycombination with an additional stone 18, as shown in FIG. 11. Similarly,such a promoted piece 68 is also considered equivalent to a gate 16. Ina further embodiment, it is foreseen that all playing pieces 12, orthose of a single rank or set 14, may be temporarily or permanentlyproscribed from attacking during game play, thereby limiting the acts aplayer may perform during a game.

Building and Breaking

In an additional embodiment, the acts the player may perform with theirassigned playing pieces 12 during turns can also include building andbreaking a built gate 70, as shown in FIGS. 12-14. During a turn, toform a built gate 70 a player combines two of their adjacent assignedstones 18, like those of FIG. 12, to form a built gate 70, as in FIG.13. Such a built gate 70 is considered equivalent to a regular gate 16.Additionally, a built gate 70—like that of FIG. 13—can also be brokenback into two separate stones 18 during a turn. To break a built gate 70a player separates one of the combined stones 18 thereof to an adjacentempty mark, as shown in FIG. 14. If an adjacent empty non-diagonal markis not available, a built gate 70 cannot be broken.

Game End

In accordance with an alternative method, the game can also end at aspecified time and, if no single player's assigned playing pieces 12remain on the playing surface 20, the player with the most points basedon their assigned pieces 12 remaining on the game surface 20 will win.For example, in one embodiment, the players may decide to play a halfhour game and at the end of the time, if more than one player's assignedpieces 12 remain on the game surface 20: count the number of gates 16and stones 18 assigned to each player on the game surface 20, determinea score for each player where each gate 16 is worth 2 points and eachstone is worth 1 point, and decide the winner based on the player withthe highest score.

The term “comprises” and grammatical equivalents thereof are used hereinto mean that other components, ingredients, steps, etc, are optionallypresent. For example, an article “comprising” (or “which comprises”)components A, B, and C can consist of (i.e., contain only) components A,B. and C, or can contain not only components A, B, and C but also one ormore other components.

Although the present invention has been described in considerable detailwith possible reference to certain preferred versions thereof, otherversions are possible. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appendedclaims should not be limited to the description of the preferredversions contained herein. All features disclosed in this specificationmay be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent orsimilar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unlessexpressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example onlyof a generic series of equivalent or similar features. Further, it isnot necessary for all embodiments of the invention to have all theadvantages of the invention or fulfill all the purposes of theinvention.

In the present description, the claims below, and in the accompanyingdrawings, reference is made to particular features of the invention. Itis to be understood that the disclosure of the invention in thisspecification includes all possible combinations of such particularfeatures. For example, where a particular feature is disclosed in thecontext of a claim, that feature can also be employed, to the extentpossible, in aspects and embodiments of the invention, and in theinvention generally.

Also, although the description above contains many specificities, theseshould not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments but asmerely providing illustrations of some of several embodiments. Thus thescope of the embodiments should be determined by the appended claims andtheir legal equivalents, rather than by the examples given.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for playing a game, the methodcomprising the steps of: providing a game apparatus including sets ofdistinguishable playing pieces with gates and stones, surface tiles withmarks disposed thereupon, and dice; assigning each player one of saidsets of playing pieces, a number of surface tiles, and dice; forming agame surface from placement of said surface tiles in a pattern, whereinsaid pattern is established for each game by each player, in rotation,placing one of said surface tiles on flat surface; setting up anarrangement of said playing pieces, wherein said arrangement isestablished for each game by each player, in rotation, placing one ofsaid playing pieces upon said marks of said surface tiles forming saidgame surface; playing by each respective player in rotation performingone of a number of acts selected from the group consisting of moving oneof said playing pieces to an empty mark on said surface tiles, jumpingover and removing at least one playing piece of another player with aplaying piece of said respective player, and attacking another player'splaying piece with a respective player's playing piece wherein one ofsaid playing pieces of the respective player or another player loses andis removed from said game surface; and ending the game based on acondition, wherein said condition is selected from the group consistingof only a winning player's playing pieces remaining on said gamesurface, a draw where playing pieces of each player are able tocontinually move away from each other, and a winning player having ahigher total score based upon prescribed values assigned each of saidgates and stones at the end of a prescribed time period.
 2. The methodfor playing a game of claim 1, wherein said playing pieces of anotherplayer during a jumping act consist of said stones.
 3. The method forplaying a game of claim 1, wherein jumping further comprises saidplaying piece of said respective player beginning each jump upon a markadjacent each of said playing pieces jumped over and completing eachjump upon a mark adjacent each of said playing pieces jumped over. 4.The method for playing a game of claim 1, wherein said moving playingpiece consists of a stone of said respective player.
 5. The method forplaying a game of claim 1, wherein said losing playing piece isdetermined by each player rolling a number of said dice.
 6. The methodfor playing a game of claim 5, wherein said number of dice rolled bysaid respective and another player to determine said losing piece isbased upon the rank of each of the playing pieces.
 7. The method forplaying a game of claim 1, wherein said attacking act further comprises:determining whether said losing playing piece is a gate, whether theplaying piece remaining upon said game surface is a stone, and whetherany removed playing piece of said respective player is a gate; promotingsaid playing piece remaining upon said game surface to a gate based uponsaid losing playing piece being a gate, said playing piece remainingupon said game surface being a stone, and one of said removed playingpieces of said respective player being a gate.
 8. The method for playinga game of claim 1, wherein said surface tiles include those of a firstset having four marks and second set having three marks.
 9. The methodfor playing a game of claim 8, wherein said number of said surface tilesassigned each player consists of four of said first set and four of saidsecond set.
 10. The method for playing a game of claim 8, wherein saidnumber of said surface tiles assigned each player consists of four ofsaid first set and three of said second set.
 11. The method for playinga game of claim 1, wherein said sets of playing pieces each include fiveof said gates and eleven of said stones.
 12. The method for playing agame of claim 1, wherein said sets of playing pieces each include six ofsaid gates and sixteen of said stones.
 13. A method for playing a game,the method comprising the steps of: providing a game apparatus includingsets of distinguishable playing pieces with gates and stones, surfacetiles with marks disposed thereupon, and dice; assigning each player oneof said sets of playing pieces, a number of surface tiles, and dice;forming a game surface from placement of said surface tiles in apattern, wherein said pattern is established for each game by eachplayer, in rotation, placing one of said surface tiles on flat surface;setting up an arrangement of said playing pieces, wherein saidarrangement is established for each game by each player, in rotation,placing one of said playing pieces upon said marks of said surface tilesforming said game surface; playing by each respective player in rotationperforming one of a number of acts selected from the group consisting ofmoving one of said playing pieces to an empty mark on said surfacetiles, jumping over and removing at least one playing piece of anotherplayer with a playing piece of said respective player, attacking anotherplayer's playing piece with a respective player's playing piece whereinas a result of the attack one of said playing pieces of the respectiveplayer or another player loses and is removed from said game surface,building a built gate by combining two adjacently located stones of saidrespective player, and breaking one of said built gates by separatingone of said stones of said respective player onto an adjacent emptymark; and ending the game based on a condition, wherein said conditionis selected from the group consisting of only a winning player's playingpieces remaining on said game surface, a draw where playing pieces ofeach player are able to continually move away from each other, and awinning player having a higher total score based upon prescribed valuesassigned each of said gates and stones at the end of a prescribed timeperiod.
 14. A game apparatus comprising: at least two distinguishablesets of playing pieces including gates and stones; at least two sets ofsurface tiles with marks disposed in a square matrix thereupon forestablishing a player created game surface and wherein said sets ofsurface tiles include those of a first set having four marks and thoseof a second set having three marks and a blank space; and at least twopairs of dice for determining which player initiates creating said gamesurface and which player's piece remains on said game surface duringparticular turns.
 15. The game apparatus of claim 14, further includinga game surface comprised of said surface tiles placed so each of saidsurface tiles has at least one edge adjacent another of said surfacetiles.
 16. The game apparatus of claim 15, wherein said surface tiles ofsaid game surface are placed so at least one of said marks on each ofsaid surface tiles is non-diagonally adjacent one of said marks onanother one of said surface tiles.
 17. The game apparatus of claim 14,wherein said playing pieces are cylindrical shaped and said stones aregenerally half the length of said gates.
 18. The game apparatus of claim14, wherein said marks on said surface tiles include a circular firstmark circular of a first color and a circular second mark of a secondcolor.
 19. The game apparatus of claim 18, wherein said first and secondmarks are generally the size and shape of an end of said playing pieces.